1. Data gathering
This is an idea I learned from the book, The Law of Attraction. It starts with being mindful about what you want in life by writing down when things feel good. You can then be clearer about your ideal life, focusing on that and attracting more of what you want.
Your real work is to decide what you want and then focus upon it, for it is through focusing upon what you want that you will attract it. That is the process of creating: giving thought to what you want, so much thought, and such clear thought, that your Inner Being offers forth emotion. And as you are giving thought, with emotion, you become the most powerful of all magnets. That is the process by which you will attract what you want into your experience.—Esther and Jerry Hicks, The Law of Attraction
2. Habit tracking
The best thing about trying to bullet journal is doing something new with your planning process. One of my favorite discoveries from hours spent looking at pretty bullet journal pages is habit trackers.
A habit tracker is simple: you just draw a table with the habits you want to track and the days of the month. Fill up the squares as you complete a habit. I’ve tried doing this with apps but nothing feels as good as coloring in those little squares and seeing the month fill up.
I added one more piece to my habit tracking practice: a month-end assessment of what I did better and what needed to be improved for the following month. I also check which habits are important based on the goals I want to achieve.
3. Putting myself out there
Scary, scary, scary. From reaching out to press to inviting acquaintances for coffee, from asking for introductions to putting my savings into self-publishing, 2017 was about letting people know who I was, what I stood for and what my business is all about.
There were many days that I was sweating before pressing send to an email, that I had to breathe deeply before pushing the green button to make a call, that I wished my lists of people to reach out to could magically transform themselves into well-written messages and notes.
But I did it. The worst thing that happened? I was ignored. And I could live with that.
4. Doing 30-day challenges
Because of an innovative journal I received from Christine Herrin (which has unfortunately sold out), I embarked on my first 30-day challenge. (Never underestimate the power of good-looking tools to motivate you to action—whether they are hot workout clothes, a new computer, a fountain pen with pretty ink, fresh art supplies.)
Tarot. Yoga. Writing on my blog everyday. Journaling. Instagram. Reading. These challenged me to overcome laziness and resistance and led me to build new habits.
5. Collaborations
I can’t build this business on my own. For now, though, having employees or a team doesn’t make sense for me just yet. Instead, I have made a list of women I want to work with and presented creative ideas that we can make together.
From Write Away to Best Year Ever to The Sunday Night Journal, these came out so much better than if I had done these alone.
How about you? What five things do you want to keep from last year?
